So is the GOP delegation half-empty or half-full?

The Republican National Committee made good on its earlier threats and voted today to seat only half of the delegates to be selected in the New Hampshire, Florida, South Carolina, Michigan and Wyoming primaries -- all states likely to vote before Feb. 5, the date the RNC has deemed the start of the Republican nomination calendar.

We say "likely" because New Hampshire hasn't set its date yet, though Jan. 8 seems to be the latest they'd go.  Iowa and Nevada escaped the wrath of the GOP because their delegate selections are made in caucuses, not primaries, so score two on a technicality. (The Democratic National Committee is facing its own calendar insurgency.)

Still, party leaders in the formally scolded states -- this is the political version of a timeout for a misbehaving child -- are gambling that by the time the convention rolls around, all will be forgiven.  And that's mainly because the last thing either major party wants to do is alienate their bases in states like Michigan and Florida, with relatively high numbers of those all-crucial electoral votes for the general election.

-- Scott Martelle